«This isn't just a pop up restaurant, this is a gastronomical experiment»

One of the highlights of the recently held Moscow based Luxury Hits business program conducted in association with the RMA business school, was a master class by Lise Uduak, the head of the department of marketing and PR at Kofler company. Since 2011 she has been developing a pop-up restaurant concept Pret a Diner, which combines the high cuisine, modern design and artistic atmosphere with a short lived pre-announced duration of existence of the outlet. Since the conception of this idea, there has been 11 such Pret a Diner restaurants that were opened up and shortly thereafter closed down.

Lise, could you tell us about the concept of Pret a Diner?

Pret a Diner is a project by Kofler, this company has been operating in the restaurant business since 1823, and at the present moment it's main area of operations is premium catering and dining cervices for the VIP clients. The concept of Pret a Diner - isn't just a pop-up restaurant. We prefer to present this process as a «gastronomical experiment». The gist of the concept is in it's core of it being the temporary lived outlet, which makes our potential client aware that if they don't come to us this time, they may never be able to have the same chance again. Of course there will be other restaurants under the Pret a Diner brand, but they will be entirely different and located in a different location as well, while this particular one will surely not be repeated ever again. It is an absolutely unique experience.

So exactly how strong of a stimulus to attend your outlets this element of uniqueness generates?

It is sufficiently effective. Our most recent restaurant which we had opened in Berlin earlier this year, for two months of January and February had been opening its doors after 7pm, and had about 300 guests. In terms of revenues I can say that the average bill at Pret a Diner fluctuates between 55 and 90 euros. Which for Berlin is considered rather expensive.

And what does one get for this money?

Gastronomically speaking, you will be getting an absolutely unique menu, developed exclusively for this specific restaurant by one of our chefs, that are usually Michelin award winners… It has a rather compact variety of two sets, each consisting of three to four courses. However, it doesn't end with just food alone, every location we chose for each one of our restaurants is carefully selected and crafted to adhere to our concept of the selected theme that will become the key attribute of the unique atmosphere in this place only. It is a common place for our restaurant to host parties, performances etc. Life evolves at a fast pace and in full swing… By the way, the art-market professionals that work with us have been reporting that our art sales figures are often better than that of galleries.